Page 40 of Ciao Bella

“It’s definitely a bomb,” said Montana. “I don’t think it’s a hydrogen bomb, but he was thinking on a grand scale. This proves that Hitler and Mussolini were working together much earlier than anyone thought.”

The women all stared at the four boys, who were looking at them. They were still here. Still standing in front of them.

“We’re missing something else,” said Grace. “The boys are still here, so there must be something in that journal that we need to find.”

They took turns sifting through the yellowed, worn pages, trying to make sense of what German they knew. When Alexandra finally took it from the last person, she started to look from back to front, hoping to see something in a different light.

On the back leather panel, there was a fine crease. Running her fingernail along the edge, she realized that it was a pocket.

And there it was. What they’d been seeking all along. A map.

“Holy shit,” muttered Faith.

“A map,” said Adele. “Maybe it’s a map of where they hid other things.”

“Where is this?” asked Mary. Aldo and Enzo came out bringing more food, and Aldo looked over her shoulder.

“That’s easy,” he smiled. “It’s out there.”

“Out there? On your land?” asked Mary. Enzo stared at the map, shaking his head.

“That can’t be. Why would they have a map of our property, Uncle? Why would Mussolini and Hitler have a map of our vineyard?”

“I don’t know. It could be for many reasons. You learned to not argue with those men,” said Aldo. “It would have been my grandfather who owned the land then.”

“We need to explore that part of the property,” said Adele. “Can we?”

“Of course,” smiled Aldo. “It’s too late today, but tomorrow, I will take you out there myself.”

“What do we do about the guys?” frowned Sara.

“The guys,” mused Grace. “Enzo? Ideas?”

“Well,” he smiled, “there is always Alfa Romeo or Lamborghini.”

“Did you just say Lamborghini?” asked Miller, walking out on the patio, the rest of the men following.

“Oh, yes,” smiled Enzo. “I heard that you had a wonderful time at Ferrari, so I thought you might enjoy seeing another classic Italian car. Would this interest you?”

“Hell, yeah,” laughed Gaspar, hugging Alexandra. “Babe, we had so much fun. They let us test drive some cars and trucks. They’re making trucks!”

“You sound like little boys excited for your first real car ride,” laughed Kat.

“That’s kind of what it was like,” said Miller.

“Let me call and get arrangements made for tomorrow,” said Enzo. Grace grabbed his hand, whispering to him.

“Do you even know anyone at Lamborghini?”

“It’s Italy. Everyone knows someone who knows someone, bella. I will find a way. I want those boys to go home as well.”

“I think I want to adopt you, Enzo,” she said, smiling as she kissed his cheek.

The men chattered endlessly about their experiences with the cars earlier in the day. They’d bought model cars, t-shirts, sweatshirts, ball caps, books, and anything else that had the Ferrari logo on it. The women found it charming and adorable, but their thoughts were on the map they needed to follow tomorrow.

“Enzo, are there caves out there?” whispered Adele.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Many years ago, we stored barrels of wine in the caves. We moved them to a cellar in the 1980s, but I think there may still be old barrels in some of the caves.”